citizen

02/26/2008

This handmade art piece, a limited series of ten, includes 58 logos of mass-market retailers, fast food chains and other corporations that participate in the creation of the contemporary North American identity and condition. Iconic North American brands such as these give us both comfort and identity, yet we feel ambivalent or even negative toward their hegemony over our cultural and economic landscape. It is the problematic balance between familiarity and alienation which this quilt seeks to examine.

With today's increasingly fractured social fabric, it is now brands that give us a feeling of collective identity, heritage, and continuity, gradually taking over the role that family and cultural heritage once held. Our identities are no longer defined by our ancestors and our traditions so much as by multinational corporations who shape our personas through advertising and product placement. The traditional American quilt serves as a living family document, surrounding us both physically and emotionally with the events and the people who came before us. This quilt forces us to question the cultural legacy we are passing along to the next generation.

Joel Yatscoff states, “…this is a very topical product that questions the effects of consumerism in North America. Has this behaviour, and the associations people wish to have with corporate brands so habitual, the American Comfort Quilt is the cherished product to provide warmth and comfort during a chilly evening?”

11/24/2006

Citizen was invited to build a dinner table at the San Francisco MoMA last week, rubber-dipped chandeliers, candles, and ming vases were the order of the day, along with gorgeous black glass from the junk yard, and chairs made from Surface Magazines. The consensus among the citizen crew was we won.

12/01/2005

If you are new to this country & fancy hanging around a bit, then dont hire a lawyer, go straight to UCSIS, they may poke you with a cattle prod & make you sleep on broadway all night however after 3 years of hard graft you'll have in your back pocket a nice shiny "Green Card" to come & go as you please.